[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Also, if we wish to have some added interesting characters, we might leave one or both of lord Athanar’s sons there – they were really reckless guys when they were young the last time we wrote about them. It might be interesting to see what kind of men they would turn out when growing little older.

Lord Eodwine should, I think, be the lord and eorl but he’s clearly getting older – which I then think would make Thornden ever more important character in the Mead Hall (he was alredy appointed a seneschal by lord Athanar), if Folwren is ready to take that.

That combination would be interesting to develop, since all of a sudden W&W (or at least the elder of the two) would lose his status as the "son and heir" of the eorl, seeing as Athanar is no longer eorl - and maybe they would actually start behaving like actual men...eventually?

And Athanar leaving would create the same situation as Athanar coming, but in reverse, and potentially stir old grudges, but this time I think the grudges would be mild and brief, because 1) Athanar leaves in honour at the request of King Eomer to see to another challenging task, he's not just dismissed, 2) Athanar's men saw Eodwine in action and know he's a worthy man, 3) the two households have had time to begin respecting each other and cooperating, and they are above open quarrels for the most part, and 4) bringing up the old tensions is like chewing cud - it's boring to rehash the same story.

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Plotwise I think the local lords could be a wealthy supply of problems, like fex. they had acted "decentlyish" as long as Athanar was there (as they had learned for good that he can play it tough as an eorl) but with him gone - and them not knowing Eodwine - they'd form a conspiracy or even rebel openly - whatever we wished.

I vote for open rebellion. Maybe even a justified rebellion - overall wrong, but not without cause. Maybe some of the lords would feel rightfully wronged by the eorl(s) or by their men, or there is some misunderstanding that ends in tragedy. That way they aren't just jerks either, and they may have the support of some of their people (otherwise the rebellion wouldn't be sustained unless they hired brigands or something). Thoughts?

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

In any case, I'm all for some local trouble stirring there. Like G55 said earlier, you can only spend so much time describing how people are eating their breakfast. Although I am not as bloodthirsty, I don't think we need a full-scale bloody rebellion or all-killing plague, but something dramatic, and rather closer to the too dramatic side than to the peaceful side, would not be bad.

An all-killing plague! That's perfect!!! <3 No, seriously - it's plausible within the setting, it puts pressure on individuals and on the entire Meadhall alike, and it creates tension when developing the story. A plague a plague a plague! Delicious!

Ok, sorry, I suppose I am more bloodthirsty than most of you here, so I won't push on with it, but I do think that an event like that could be kept in mind to be used in the future.

Another alternative drama could be the disappearance of some man/men. Just plain old disappearance. No one knows what happened or where they went. We may or may not know what happened or where they went. And that could lead to search parties and unwanted discoveries of... I dunno. Things.

I've reread the last 3-4 pages of the thread, and there are a few notable subplots/details that I think deserve attention. Firstly, there is stuff brewing between Ginna and Harreld. Are they now happily married? What did her father say? Then there is some very different stuff brewing between Rowenna and Scyld. That probably needs resolution, or at least continuation (re: Firefoot: to avoid the too-rapid transformation, Scyld could have been sent away or gone away to do some task for a significant amount of time. Say, a group of Scarburg men was dispatched to aid the reconstruction of a village after the whole thing birned down in a harsh fire during a very dry summer, and due to complications the project lengthened. The whole thing could be described briefly in passing, but Scyld's character development would sort of be put on pause, or perhaps he could reflect on it in a flashback). Then there is the dead body, which Rowenna and Scyld (well mostly Rowenna) decided to investigate. I can't see how this plot line can be suddenly reopened again after several years. Either we drop it or we flashback-narrate it. Finally, Athanar was bothered about Saeryn's parade of her condition and her martyr-like show/attitude, and he considered ordering her to stop working so much but was loathe to give her commands in her own house. Now that Eodwine is here, though, Athanar could do the thing discreetly with his help, and Ledwyn's coming would have been an argument in his favour, so my guess is that the three of them would convince Saeryn to lay down her duties for a while. She would also probably get a few months of "maternity leave". I don't think she would stay away from her position as the Lady of the hall for very long, but it would be a few months at least. How would people react to her coming back? How would she feel if in her absence as the person in control things started going differently somehow?

So there. I agree with Firefoor - I think that we don't need a too long jump to get out of stagnation. But then again, some characters are hotter coals than others - I can see how the Harreld, Ginna, Rowenna, Saeryn, Scyld, and the children would develop much faster than, say, Hilderinc or Eodwine, who are in a way already established and slow to change, and therefore would benefit from a shorter jump, while on the contrary someone like Hilderinc would benefit from a longer jump... Oh the indecisiveness...